The Adventures of Baby Rizzles
by propertyofjanerizzoli
Summary: A series of fluffy ficlets about elementary school Jane and Maura.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A series of fluffy ficlets written from prompts sent to me on tumblr. Thanks for reading and I'll gladly accept reviews and requests. :)**

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The unwritten rule among Jane's classmates was that boys only played with boys and girls only played with girls. "That's how it has always been and always will be," one of the girls told her. "Boys are gross and they play weird games." But Jane saw nothing gross or weird about the games the boys were playing, especially when they pretended to be dinosaurs. They still needed a velociraptor and five-year-old Jane wasn't going to let anyone stop her from being that velociraptor.

It was a bold move, but Jane had done what no other kid in her class had ever done before; she had broken the gender barrier and, as far as her kindergarten class was concerned, Jane Rizzoli now ruled the playground. It was the happiest time in all of her five years, that is, until a girl named Maura transferred into her classroom in the middle of the school year.

"She gives me butterflies in my tummy," Jane told the group of boys she played with. "And she shared her fruit snacks with me yesterday. Does that mean she likes me?"

"Who cares?" one of the boys shrugged. "She's a girl and girls are gross."

Jane slugged him in the arm. "Girls aren't gross! I'm a girl!"

"Don't listen to him," another boy cut in. "Pull her pigtails. If you don't pull her hair, how is she going to know you like her?"

Jane considered it solid advice, so the next day she quickly yanked one of Maura's pigtails while she was eating lunch. She hadn't meant to hurt Maura, but she accidentally pulled so hard that Maura cried. "Maura, I'm sorry," Jane said, but it was too late. Their teacher intervened and Jane spent the rest of lunch and recess sitting in the corner while her classmates played outside.

Pulling Maura's hair had backfired, so Jane decided to take the next bit of advice her friends had given her: she was going to cut in front of Maura while she was in line for the slide. Jane was used to pushing and playing rough, so when Maura was about to take her turn on the slide, Jane pushed her out of the way and took a turn instead. _Now she knows I like her. _Jane was expecting Maura to pick herself up off the grass and run into her arms, but when she saw Maura's expression as she walked toward her, Jane wanted to run away as fast as she could and she would have had she not been paralyzed with fear.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Maura yelled. "I shared my fruit snacks! I let you use the red crayon first even though I needed the red crayon! I was always nice to you!"

Jane looked down at the ground. "I like you," she mumbled.

"What?"

She grabbed Maura's hands in hopes that it would emphasize what she was about to say. "I like you! I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen and I was pulling your hair and pushing you so you'd know I like you."

Maura's eyes grew wide. "That's not what you're supposed to do, Jane. When you're mean to me, it makes me not want to play with you or share anything with you. If you want me to like you back, you have to be nice."

"I never liked being mean to you," Jane admitted. "If I'm nice, will you go on a date with me?"

"A date?" Maura asked. "But we can't even cross the street by ourselves."

"A recess date," Jane explained. "We'll have lunch together and then we'll play with any toys you want to play with and I'll let you get on the slide first."

When it was time for lunch the next day, Jane nearly jumped up from her seat and hurried to her cubby so she could grab Maura's gift. "Thank you for going on a date with me," Jane said as she handed Maura a flower and a bag of fruit snacks. It was the first of many nice gestures Jane showed Maura throughout their date and, when it was time for them to line up after recess, Jane received her very first kiss on the cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews!**

**Tumblr prompt from kathyisweird : UM you should totes mcgoats write a fic about pre-teen Jane and maura sneaking behind the bleachers at a football game to give little kisses**

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Every autumn, Jane's Saturday mornings would be spent at the football field watching her younger brothers play Pop Warner football. Jane loved football, but watching her six and eight-year-old brothers run around on the football field paled in comparison to watching a Patriots game on TV. At ten-years-old, she was too young to stay at home by herself so she had no choice but to wake up early and go to the field with her family.

When the new football season began, Jane had expected to be just as bored with the games, but with a new season came a new distraction; Jane had noticed cheerleaders, one named Maura in particular. She wore the same uniform and hair ribbons as the other girls in her squad, but there was something about the way Maura looked in her cheerleading skirt that made Jane swoon.

They didn't go to the same school, so Jane's only opportunities to befriend this girl and eventually make her hers were on Saturdays during the football season. With each game day, Jane learned something new about Maura including the fact that cheerleading wasn't her first choice of extracurricular activities but her parents signed her up because they thought it'd give her a boost of confidence. Jane couldn't fathom how someone as beautiful and smart as Maura could lack confidence, but if confidence is what she needed, Jane was more than willing to help.

Before each game, Jane would meet Maura behind the bleachers to wish her luck and tell her something she liked about her and, with each compliment, Jane received a kiss on the cheek to thank her. She'd have complimented Maura without receiving kisses, but kissing Jane made Maura smile and Jane wanted nothing more than to see her favorite girl smile.

They had yet to exchange phone numbers, so Jane knew she had to act now or else she'd have to wait an entire year to confess her feelings to Maura. Her intentions were to give Maura a note with her phone number written on it, but on the final game day of the season, Jane realized she was ready to take the next step and make Maura her girlfriend.

Jane couldn't afford to buy a bouquet of roses for Maura, so she opted for a flower that she picked from her mother's garden and a lollipop from the snack bar at the football field with her phone number written on the wrapper.

Just as they did before every game, Jane met Maura at their secret meeting spot under the bleachers and, like always, Jane smiled uncontrollably the moment she saw Maura walk toward her with her pom poms in hand.

"Jane! I missed you!" Maura said as she flung her arms around Jane, her pom pom streamers tickling Jane's back. "I've been looking forward to seeing you all week." Jane had wanted to give Maura her flower, but when Maura started kissing her cheek, Jane decided to enjoy the affections she was receiving from her favorite girl.

One kiss on the cheek turned into five minutes of hugging and kissing each other on the cheek and Jane realized it wouldn't be long before her parents started looking for her. "I have to go soon, but I have a flower for you."

"A flower?" Maura smiled. "Nobody has ever given me a flower before."

"For my favorite cheerleader," Jane said as she handed Maura the flower and the lollipop she had brought for her. "And my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?"

Jane hadn't meant to say those last words aloud just yet, but now that she had she realized she couldn't stall any longer. "Will you be my girlfriend? I wrote my phone number on the lollipop wrapper, so even if you don't want to answer me now you can call me later and answer me."

"Jane," Maura giggled. "Watch me cheer. You'll get your answer then."

Instead of sitting with her parents during the game, Jane climbed down to the front of the bleachers so she could watch Maura cheer up close. Throughout the first and second quarters, Maura smiled at her and blew her kisses whenever she was given an opportunity and, as much as Jane loved the special attention, she was still anxious to know Maura's answer.

There was a ten-minute break during halftime and Maura ran over to Jane the moment the whistle blew so as not to waste any time.

"Maura, will you—" Jane began to ask again, but she was interrupted by Maura quickly pressing her lips against hers for their very first kiss.

"Give me a 'J'!" Maura cheered just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"J!" Jane continued to play along until they had finished spelling her name.

"What's that spell?" Maura cheered.

"Jane!"

"Who is my girlfriend?"

Jane's eyes grew wide. "Jane? That's a yes?"

"Y-e-s!" Maura giggled.

They spent the rest of halftime holding hands and, when it was time for the game to start again, Jane was completely smitten as she watched her girl cheer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tumblr prompt from kathyisweird: elementary school Jane is crying in the stalls of the girls room because she is losing a tooth and she's scared. So, Maura explains the benefits of losing a baby tooth and makes it all better :D**

Her best friend Jane left abruptly during recess to go to the bathroom, so Maura took it upon herself to save Jane's favorite tricycle for her before any of the other kids in their kindergarten class claimed it. Before touching the tricycles, Maura pulled out an antibacterial wipe from her _Frozen_ purse and used it to sanitize the handlebars on both tricycles. She had witnessed her classmates wiping their noses on their hands and then touching the playground equipment and, when she told her mom, Mrs. Isles made sure to keep her daughter fully supplied with antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer at all times.

"It must be hard being you," Jane said the first time she saw Maura wipe down the handlebars, but instead of making fun of her she decided to use the antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer if it meant Maura would feel more comfortable when they played.

When five minutes had passed and Jane had yet to return to the playground, Maura decided it was time to check on her. Jane had been a good friend to her since the first day of school and, if Jane needed her, Maura was going to do all she could to help.

She opened the door to the bathroom and saw Jane standing by the sink with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her best friend Jane was the toughest kid in class and, if something had made Jane cry, Maura feared the worst. "Jane, are you okay?"

"No," Jane sobbed. Maura noticed her reach into her pocket and pull something out.

"It's a tooth!" Maura exclaimed after taking a closer look. "Jane, you lost a tooth!"

"I know," Jane said worriedly. "I tried putting it back in, but it won't stay. Maura, help me. I'm scared."

Maura paid no mind to germs and held Jane's unsanitized hand. "Don't be scared, Jane. This is a Deciduous tooth."

"Maura," Jane groaned. "You're using big words again."

"A baby tooth," Maura informed her. "You're supposed to lose these. Your baby teeth loosen as the roots dissolve and clear the way for permanent teeth."

"So, it's okay?" Jane asked, nervously.

"Everybody loses their baby teeth," Maura pointed out. "It's a sign that you're not a baby anymore and you're becoming a big kid. You're the first in our class to lose a tooth, Jane! I think we should tell the teacher!"

Jane didn't want anyone to make a fuss over her, but it was too late. Maura had already led her to their teacher and told her everything that had happened.

As the first kid in their class to lose a tooth, Jane received special treatment that day. Their teacher let her tell the class what happened and Jane felt like a big kid as she answered their questions about losing baby teeth and whether or not it hurt. When her impromptu question and answer session was over, Jane received a felt pouch with her name on it so she could keep her tooth safely stored until the tooth fairy visited her.

"You're so brave," Maura said after kissing Jane's cheek for the very first time while they waited for their moms to pick them up.

She had gotten her first kiss and, later that night, the tooth fairy was going to leave some money under her pillow just for her. _I'm going to like being a big kid._


	4. Chapter 4

**Tumblr prompt: Constance and Angela having coffee together while watching their daughters, and having a laugh watching Jane keep trying to hold Maura's hand and things, and maybe maura doesn't want to hold hands or is crazy into playing with some blocks, and Jane is just like, flopping down in defeat**

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Now that Maura was five, she felt as if she was old enough to play at Jane's house instead of running errands with her mom on weekends, so when Jane invited her over to play that afternoon, Maura nearly begged her mom until she said yes.

It was Maura's first time away from her parents outside of school, so when her mom dropped her off, Jane and Angela were surprised to see that she had a backpack with her instead of just a stuffed animal or her favorite toy.

"Maura, there's no school today," Jane said while looking at Maura's backpack.

"Did you bring all your favorite toys?" Angela smiled at Maura.

"I forgot her toys," Constance nearly gasped. "The backpack is filled with her necessities. There's medicine if she gets a stomach ache or if she starts sniffling. If her throat starts hurting, there are some cough drops and if she gets a cut there's bandages and antibiotic ointment. I also added snacks that she can share with Jane. Maura likes trail mix and dried banana chips."

Jane imagined anything, even her own boogers, would taste better than the snacks Maura had brought and she made a mental note to offer Maura some cookies and fruit punch during snack time.

"Maura, I got new LEGOs," Jane said in hopes of changing the subject from medicine and healthy snacks.

LEGOs were Maura's favorite toy and, just by mentioning them, Jane had made Maura feel better about being away from her mom for the afternoon. "Bye, Mommy!" Maura said as she hurried to the LEGO set Jane had dumped from its container onto the living room carpet. "I'll see you at six. I love you!"

Maura was already building a LEGO house with Jane, but Constance was still watching over her little girl. "I've never left her before," she told Angela. "What if she misses me or thinks I'm leaving her because I don't love her?"

"You leave her for three hours a day, five days a week at her kindergarten class," Angela pointed out. "And look at her building a house. She doesn't even realize you're still standing here." Angela noticed that she still hadn't stopped watching Maura. "Have a seat, I'll bring you some coffee and we can talk while you work up the nerve to leave Maura for the first time."

Constance had finally felt at ease until she heard an "Ow!" from her little girl. "Maura, darling, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mommy," Maura responded without taking her eyes off of the house she was building. "I just put my hand on a LEGO."

"Children aren't porcelain dolls. They don't break as easily as you think," Angela said as she handed Constance a cup of coffee. "Try having Janie as a daughter. She gets a new cut or scrape every time she plays outside, but all I have to do is bandage her up and send her right back out there and she's fine."

Jane overheard their mothers talk about them, but Maura was too wrapped up in building a house to pay attention. She had hoped they'd go to the kitchen or her baby brother Tommy would wake up from his nap to distract them, but much to her dismay neither happened and she was forced to hold off on her plan.

An hour had passed and their mothers were still talking to each other about parenting tips and other subjects Jane didn't care about, so she decided they were distracted enough for her to go through with her plan. _Be brave. You've done this before._

Jane ever so slowly inched her way toward Maura and grabbed her hand, but the moment their hands touched, Maura pulled away from Jane. Her every move was thwarted and Jane was left to wonder what she was doing wrong.

"Jane, I'm building a house," Maura said as she pulled her hand away yet again.

"But the house is fine," Jane pointed out. "It's time to hold hands."

"We can be girlfriends later. It's time for LEGOs."

"Ugh," Jane groaned and, after another failed attempt, she flopped face down in defeat.

"Janie?" Angela asked. "What are you groaning about now?"

"I don't understand women," Jane mumbled, still face down on the carpet.

"What?" Angela tried not to laugh.

"I don't understand _women_," Jane enunciated. "They're your girlfriend one minute and the next they just want to play LEGOs instead of holding hands, but when you're trying to ride your tricycle that's when they want to hold hands and play house. I don't understand any of this!"

Constance and Angela had tried not to laugh earlier, but Jane's outburst had them in hysterics.

"And just how do I deal with this?" Constance asked Angela.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Angela smiled. "I didn't expect them to be a couple for at least another ten years."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there! :)**

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Five-year-old Maura was an inquisitive child, so when they were looking at her baby book on Mother's Day and she saw photos of herself as a baby and a toddler but none of her mom when she was pregnant with her, her first instinct was to ask why. "My best friend Jane's mommy has pictures when Jane was in her tummy. Why aren't there any of you when I was in _your _tummy?"

Constance smiled when she heard her daughter's euphemisms and, under different circumstances, she would have preferred to tell her the correct word was 'stomach'. She didn't like her daughter to be misinformed, so she'd try to be as informative as possible with Maura and, if Maura had a question she didn't know the answer to, they'd do research together until Maura understood it, but she knew this question couldn't be answered simply by telling her where babies come from. Regardless of how thorough-yet age-appropriate-her explanation would be, she knew it would still end with Maura asking why there were no pictures of her when she was in her womb.

Maura was waiting for an answer, so Constance held her little girl on her lap and explained to her that even if she didn't give birth to her, it didn't mean that she loved her any less. "Someone else carried you in her...tummy." Hearing herself misinform her daughter nearly made Constance cringe, but she knew there were more pressing matters than proper terminology and scientific accuracy.

"If I was in another woman's tummy, then why isn't she my mommy? Didn't she love me?" Maura asked and the thought of her daughter feeling unloved nearly broke Constance's heart.

She leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. "She loved you very much, darling, so much that she made sure you were healthy when you were in her tummy, but loving someone means doing what's best for them and, although she loved you so much, she felt as if your father and I could take better care of you than she could, so we decided to adopt you."

"Mommy?" Maura asked. "What does adopt mean?"

"Adopt," Constance hesitated so she could choose her words. "Adopt means even though I didn't carry you in my tummy, I still wanted to be your mommy so I made a promise to be the best mommy I can be and love you no matter what."

"Does that mean I adopted Bass?"

"Did you carry Bass in your tummy?"

"No," Maura giggled. "Mommy, that's impossible. I'm a person and Bass is a baby tortoise and I'm still little."

"A hatchling," Constance informed her. "A baby tortoise is called a hatchling. Bass came from an egg and eggs hatch. That will help you remember the word 'hatchling.'"

"Hatchling," Maura repeated. The word sounded funny to her, so she carefully pronounced each syllable until it sounded more pleasing to her ears. "I adopted Bass just like you adopted me. Bass didn't come from my tummy, but I love him and make sure he eats and, because I can't hug Bass, I pet his shell to let him know I love him and he's a good tortoise."

Constance tickled her little girl, which made her giggle even more than she did earlier. "He's a good tortoise and you're a good mommy to him."

"Mommy?" Maura said as she rested her head on her mom's shoulder. "You didn't carry me in your tummy, but you still love me and take care of me and do all the things that mommies do like teach me new words and tell me bedtime stories and play with me. I think you're the best mommy in the world and I love you so much and I'm glad you adopted me. Happy Mother's Day, Mommy. I love you."

"I love you, too." She knew Maura wouldn't always be this eager to cuddle, so she took advantage of holding her little girl while she still could.

After a minute Maura had already become anxious. "Can we play tea party now?" Maura asked, but she was out the door before Constance could even respond to her question.

She may not have given birth to her, but five years ago, she was given the opportunity to be Maura's mommy and, although parenting wasn't always easy, she cherished every moment spent with her little girl.


	6. Chapter 6

Now that Jane was five, the Rizzoli family's weekends were devoted to Jane's T-ball games, especially during the All-Star season. Out of the hundred or so girls in the t-ball division, only fifteen were chosen to be on the all-star team and Frank and Angela were thrilled when their little Janie was chosen as one of those fifteen girls. With three-year-old Frankie and one-year-old Tommy needing constant supervision, Angela wasn't always able to attend Jane's tournaments, so game days often became daddy/daughter days and that Father's Day Jane was determined to make her dad even more proud of her than he already was.

Just as she did every morning she had a game, Jane woke up before her parents and her brothers because she was too excited to sleep. As much as she hated missing the Red Sox game to take a bath the night before, Jane was grateful for it now because she was able to change straight into her uniform from her pajamas. Jane was still too little to reach the clothes hanging in her closet, but Angela made sure to keep Jane's uniform in a drawer so her independent little tomboy could always have access to it.

With her uniform on and her cleats double-knotted, all that was missing was her cap. _My cap! I left it downstairs! And I still have to put my hair in a ponytail. _Angela was more than willing to comb her daughter's hair, but combing through Jane's curls was no easy task.. "I can do it myself," Jane would tell her and Angela soon realized that letting Jane put her own hair in a ponytail was so much less difficult than dealing with a squirming five-year-old.

Jane was an independent child, but there was still one thing stopping her: a barrier that she had nicknamed Jane Jail. Every night, Frank put up a removable barrier that prevented his daughter from going downstairs in the middle of the night. Before the barrier had been put up, Jane would occasionally sneak downstairs to the kitchen in the middle of the night to grab cookies from the pantry. She would have continued to get away with it had she not tried to get soda from the refrigerator and accidentally broken a glass pitcher that was next to the soda bottle. Frank and Angela heard a the sound of glass breaking and, assuming it was an intruder, Frank made Angela stay upstairs with the kids while he went to downstairs to see what happened. Instead of an intruder, he found a wide-eyed little Jane in the kitchen who attempted to make a run for it until he snatched her up and put her in their bed for the night so they could both keep an eye on her.

Jane could be rambunctious and had a tendency to get into everything, but she was his Janie-his pride and joy-and he enjoyed every second that she spent following him around or sitting on the couch watching sports with him.

"Daddy!" Frank heard his daughter shout. "Daddy, help! I'm in Jane Jail and I need to get my cap!"

"You wouldn't be in Jane Jail if you didn't sneak out for cookies and soda in the middle of the night," Franke tried to tell her, but once he opened the gate, Jane ran past him and headed downstairs for her cap.

While at bat that day, Jane accidentally hit the stand instead of the ball. It was unlike her to do so and Frank realized that nerves were getting the best of his daughter that day.

"I'm just trying to make you proud today," Jane told him after her at-bat. "It's Father's Day."

"You always make me proud," he reassured her. "No matter what you do, I'll always love you and be proud of you. You're my little Janie."

"I love you, too, Daddy, but I'm not little," Jane giggled. "I'm five. That means I'm a big girl now."

She may have just been five-years-old, but the thought of Jane growing up was something that Frank wasn't ready for. She was still at the age where he was her hero and she was content with watching sports with him and playing catch outside, but he knew there'd come a time when Jane would choose her friends or boys-or maybe even girls now that he thought about how she blushed every time she was around her friend Maura-over him and he'd have to settle for the little glimpses into her life that she'd allow him to have.

Once her nervousness subsided, Frank noticed that Jane was back to her old self and he wasn't surprised when his little girl scored the winning run and was given the game ball as a game day souvenir.

"This is for you, Daddy," Jane said as she handed him the ball. "Happy Father's Day."

He imagined that ball displayed on the mantle over the fireplace and hearing Jane tell the story of why she was given the game ball, but when he looked near the dugout he noticed someone that would cherish that ball just as much as he would.

"I think there's someone who is just as much a fan of yours as I am," Frank said while turning his daughter around so she could see Maura waiting for her. Maura wasn't a softball player, so Frank knew she had gotten her parents to bring her to the field just so she could watch Jane play.

Without another word, Jane rushed over to Maura and gave her the ball. "This is for you," she said.

"Thank you," Maura smiled. "Can you sign it for me? I'll have a signed ball from my girlfriend who is going to be a famous athlete someday."

_Girlfriend? _Frank was caught off guard. He knew Jane was going to grow up eventually, but he was nowhere near ready for her to be having crushes let alone a girlfriend.

When Maura left, Jane wiped her cheek and hurried over to where her dad was standing. "Yuck," Jane said as she continued to wipe her cheek. "Kissing is gross. I like holding hands, but why didn't anybody tell me that girlfriends kiss on the cheek? I'm never going to like that."

He knew she'd change her mind once junior high came around, but at that moment, he realized he still had his little Janie-his sidekick-for at least a few more years.


End file.
